


Five Minutes Early

by the_chaotic_lesbian



Series: How to Fix the World: A Guide [1]
Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Fix-It of Sorts, Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Pre-Relationship, no beta we die like ben
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 02:23:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20056465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_chaotic_lesbian/pseuds/the_chaotic_lesbian
Summary: When he jumped back, Delores safely returned, he wasn't quite expecting to see his childhood home on the verge of collapse.~~~~~~Five arrives at the Academy as quickly as he can. He finds Vanya in the sitting room.





	Five Minutes Early

**Author's Note:**

> My first TUA work! My tag system is being weird, so forgive me for the lack of them. I've tagged this as pre-relationship because of how... Heavily hinted the fiveya is but whether or not you choose to read it as romantic is up to you! Enjoy!

When he jumped back, Delores safely returned, he wasn't quite expecting to see his childhood home on the verge of collapse. 

  


Five stares at the shaking academy, dumbfounded for half a second. 

  


"Shit. Shit!" He curses, and then jumps. 

  


How could he be so painstakingly blind? He let his guard up, dared to think for an instant that he won, and look where it got him. Worry tugs at his gut, because what if his siblings are in there? What if whatever force is tearing the foundation apart is keeping his brothers and sisters pinned? He can't… he can't lose them again. 

  


He lands square in the main sitting room, directly behind… someone. With loose hair flowing around her shoulders, it can only be Vanya, and he sighs in relief. If she's here, she must've been safe from Jenkins. 

  


"Vanya?" Five says tentatively, extending a hand to touch her solid shoulder because the room is shaking, everything is quivering like it will fall, and his sister is just… standing there. 

  


Before he has the chance to make contact, though, she spins around. Five stares at her rather dumbly, frozen. Who is this stranger? He thought he knew his sister's face - it was all he had, back in those terribly lonely days - and this surely isn't her. 

  


Expressionless, with eyes glowing silver, Vanya stares right back at him. Energy practically radiates off of her, ripples of the faintest white causing her hair to shift. Five puts the pieces together almost instantly. 

  


"Is this your doing?" He asks, taking care to soften his voice a little. He knows he can be a bit… abrasive, and if Vanya really is the one tearing the house apart, he needs to be cautious. 

  


Vanya just stares, and stares, before her head dips in the smallest of nods. 

  


"Wow," perhaps this would be more surprising if Five hadn't spent years puzzling over Vanya's absence of powers, because it never made sense why she wouldn't have some sort of ability, "it's incredible Vanya." It really is; the irony of ordinary Number Seven being the most powerful of them all is oddly satisfying, and Five wishes he had more time to help her explore these newfound abilities. 

  


"In… credible?" Vanya's voice is as emotionless and empty as her expression, yet something shifts minisculely. 

  


"Incredible," he confirms, taking a small step towards her. She doesn't flinch, although her gaze flickers down at his feet before returning to his face. "Oh Vanya - I knew you were extraordinary. Didn't I tell you so?" He sees movement out of the corner of his eyes, but whoever it was doesn't move into his line of sight, and he's grateful. "I knew you were powerful." 

  


"You left," she sounds so weary in those two words - like she's resigned, like she's broken - "you left, and you never came back." 

  


"I know," Five wonders if he sounds as apologetic as he feels, if she can hear the guilt that rips his heart apart. He always felt bad about running off, but now he swallows thickly to force the emotions back. "I know, and I'm so -  _ God  _ I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I left, I'm sorry I wasn't here to help you. I thought - I thought if I stopped the apocalypse, I could be of use to you again, but I was wrong." He's rambling now, wondering where the words are coming from. 

  


"Listen to me," and she's staring blankly at his face again. Distantly, he thinks that the shaking has dialed down some, but he can't being himself to lose focus for a moment, "I want to help you, Vanya. I missed you so much - I should've told you. Your book kept me  _ alive  _ when I was gone. I don't know what I would've done without it. I-"  _ love you, _ he thinks, "-care about you." He takes another step forward, extends a gentle hand, "Vanya?" 

  


For a moment, he isn't sure if it worked. Vanya looks down at his hand, her hair falling into her face while Five holds his breath. His heart is racing, a steady beat that helps him focus in some strange way as his hand shakes. 

  


Then she glances up, and the silver is gone. Five watches her swallow, watches her reach out. Her hand closes around his hesitantly, and he uses the contact to gently pull her towards him. 

  


Is he taller than her? He thinks he is, if only by an inch or two, as she settles against him in an embrace. The physical contact is foreign to him, and while he'd normally push such a presence away, he can't help but pull Vanya close to him, setting his chin on her shoulder, lightly tangling a hand in her hair. 

  


The shaking has stopped completely now, the wind gone, and that confirms his initial suspicions. Still, he doesn't hold her lack of control against her - he can't, not while he's holding her shaking figure against him. 

  


The movement he had spotted returns - Luther, wary and tense, followed by the ever-concerned Allison. Five thinks Pogo is also there, lurking in the background. 

  


"I'm sorry," Vanya mumbles, drawing his attention back to her. Her shoulders are shaking, fingers clenching his own shoulders as she violently trembles, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry-" 

  


"Stop," he says, leaning away from her so that he can brush stands of hair out of her face, gently wiping tears away in the same soothing motion, "I don't have all the facts, but whatever happened is not entirely your fault, right? Okay? We'll all talk about this later, it's pretty late." 

  


He hears footsteps, and he glances at the crowd they've gathered in slight panic. Luckily, it's just Allison, notebook clutched tightly in her hand. His much taller sister has a fond smile on her face, and Five steps back to allow Vanya to collapse in Allison's arms, tears falling freely now. 

  


He doesn't know what exactly he walked into, doesn't know why Vanya's so distraught or how her powers magically appeared. He doesn't care about any of that though - he's just relieved she's alright. 

  


They'll all be alright. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you enjoyed! Hit me up on Tumblr @cherrytheangstprincess if you want to see more! Thanks!


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